How to Change Your Life: 10 Ways To Live Your Best Life

Searching for how to change your life? Change is inevitable and we all face life-changing decisions at some point.

“Your life does not get better by chance. It gets better by change.” – Jim Rohn

Change is so many things. It’s scary, exciting, and unpredictable, but most of all its necessary. Think back on your life and your routine 20 years ago.

What was the most important thing in your world then? Who did you hang out with? What was your favorite restaurant? Are any of those things the same as they are today? I doubt it!

You’re a different person now, and in 10 years you’ll have different answers than you would today. But as we get older, we tend to be more resistant to change. We get set in our ways, our routines, and unintentionally close ourselves off from new experiences that can improve our lives.

Below are 10 ideas on how to change your life for the better. Discover how to bring positive change into your life.

How to change your life in 10 Ways

Shift to a Positive and Plentiful Mindset

Your mindset filters how you view your world, what you see and how you interpret every situation. If you have a negative, closed mindset you’re instantly cutting yourself off from opportunities on the horizon because you can’t see past the negative.

You attract what you put out there, and to welcome positive change into your life, you first need to believe it’s possible. You may have heard the quote, “whether you believe you can or can’t, you’re right.”

First, start recognizing where your current mindset is leading you. For example, when you’re presented with a new project at work, do you dwell on the myriad of things that could go wrong? Are you caught up in how hard this project could be?

Do you lack self-confidence? Instead, try thinking of just one way this could positively impact your life. You could learn a new skill set, make a new contact, or be trusted with larger projects.

Changing your mindset won’t happen instantly, but tuning in to how you interpret your surroundings and working towards seeing bigger and better outcomes will pave the way for positive changes in your life!

Find a Mentor

When I changed careers, I reached out to a female coach who worked with women clients just like I aimed to do. She was nice enough to meet me for coffee and let me ask her questions about getting into the wellness business and has become a mentor to me ever since.

Whether you work with a mentor for your career, relationships, wellness or just life in general, your life is guaranteed to change for the better.

A mentor has been in your shoes and is empathetic to what you’re going through. They can shed light on things you’ve closed off – consciously or subconsciously – and guide you through changes you may not know how to navigate.

Here are a few sites to get you started:

Business Mentoring: Score.org (FREE small business mentoring) Life Coaching: Beautiful You Coaching Academy Career Coaching: TheMuse.com If you’re looking for health coaching, I would love to work with you! Sjkfitness.com

Cut Out Toxic Friends

We all have those friends who we’ve been friends with “for-ev-er”. Often, these are wonderfully fulfilling relationships, but have you ever wondered if you met them for the first time today if you’d be compatible?

Old or new, toxic friendships can bring you down and limit your potential for positive change. It can be hard to cut ties, but here are a few ways to create room in your life for healthier friendships:

If you’re feeling passive: Pull back, make fewer plans, be polite but not overly friendly. (In other words, don’t be dishonest.)

Either way: Cultivate new friends who make you feel enriched, enlivened and embraced, because that is what good friendships do.

Learn Something New

As children, basically everything we do is new. We are constantly learning new skills, and aren’t surprised when we encounter something we do not know. When you’re an adult, you tend to stick with what you know. Unless required, it’s just easier to go along with what you’re good at because the risk of failure is low.

I took tap classes as a kid and recently found a studio in my neighborhood that offered beginner adult tap. It was strange learning as a beginner, something I used to be very proficient at, but I am loving it! It reopened this area of my life I forgot I enjoyed, I have a new hobby and am meeting neighbors I wouldn’t have before.

Starting as a beginner can be intimidating. Click here for tips on how to approach it with love.

Create a “Bucket List”…of Sorts

Many people have things on their “bucket list” of what they’d like to do in their lifetime. This is great in theory, but in reality, these dreams are often so big and their timeline unknown, that it’s easy to never actually do them.

By creating more realistic and time-sensitive lists, you’re much more likely to accomplish these new things you’d like to do, and will inevitably bring change to your life.

An example I see often is a list tied to a birthday; “40 things to do before I’m 40”, or “30 things I will try in my 30th year”. These can be small, “host a dinner party”, or big, “travel out of the country”, it’s up to you!

My list is in the making, but the idea is to get my husband and I out of our usual haunts. We live in Chicago which is known for its plethora of unique neighborhoods, yet we head to the same areas and establishments nearly every weekend.

I’m currently making a list of different neighborhoods we haven’t been to, and picking a specific thing to do – check out a certain bar, order a “famous” dish at a restaurant, see a show, etc. – so we have a plan.

It’s summer so we can bike which lets us see more of the city we have called home for over 8 years! My hope is to have a whole new list of “go-to” streets and restaurants.

Make a New Friend

When you’re young, it’s easy and natural to make new friends. Even in high school and college, it doesn’t take much effort as everyone around you is generally the same age and living in the same environment. As an adult, things are different. It takes more effort and can be a little awkward at first!

Making new friends is essential for growth and change as you’ll be connected to new groups of people who could change your perspective on anything and everything. Not sure how to navigate the world of adult friendships? Check out these 5 methods and become a pro!

Change Your Routine

I am admittedly a creature of habit. I love my routines and even after a wonderful vacation, have a sense of longing to “get back to normal”.

In many ways this works well; it lessens the number of decisions to make which has been shown to reduce stress, and it helps me plan my day with ease. But routine often leads to a rut, and that is no way to foster change!

The good news for those who are comforted by routine is that you don’t have to drastically alter everything to welcome change in your life.

Trying a new place for your morning coffee, taking a different route home from work, or switching up what you do for a workout are all small changes that can give you a fresh perspective on your day.

For a few morning ritual ideas you can use to shake things up, check out this post!

Find Your Passion

Before becoming a health coach, Sunday nights were rough. I didn’t look forward to my job and it finally got to where I couldn’t ignore my feeling of guilt for staying in a job my heart wasn’t fully in.

I couldn’t stomach spending my life doing something I wasn’t excited about. This discord was affecting my mood and, in turn, my life. But, what could I do? I needed a change but had no idea where to turn.

So, I started reexamining what brought joy to my life and when I felt my truest self. Finding your passion isn’t as easy as it seems it should be, but once you find something that you not only enjoy, but have a knack for, your world opens up with different paths you didn’t see before.

Even if you don’t feel the need to change careers, finding your passion through hobbies and volunteer work will indeed change your life. Need help discovering your inner light?

Here is a list of 7 podcasts to get the creative ball rolling! Think you’re on to something? Check out these 3 ways to determine if you’ve hit the passion jackpot.

Go With The (Creative) Flow

Have you ever been so into a project – cooking, reading, writing, puzzling, etc. – that an hour slips by without notice? That is known as a state of flow. Getting into a creative flow has similar effects on the brain as meditation in that it reduces stress, lowers blood pressure and produces dopamine – a natural antidepressant.

“That’s great!”, you’re thinking, “but how does this change my life?” When you flex your creativity muscles, you expose yourself to new experiences and this openness allows your mind to wander and seek out more new avenues to explore.

Argue For Change

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein.

If you wish to welcome change into your life, you’re going to need to do something different. This sounds obvious, but knowing what to change is where many of us get stuck, hoping that if we keep chugging along, things will improve on their own.

We also fear the work that goes into change, and with unknown challenges on the horizon, it can seem more comfortable to stay where we are. What helps many of my clients is making a pro and con list. For example, if you’re unhappy with how often your family orders in during the week, but haven’t been able to get yourself to cook more often, your list could look like this:

Changing behavior:Pro’s – eat healthier, save money, learn a new skill, could be a family activity, less guiltCon’s – need to learn more cooking skills, more planning

By forcing yourself to think of how staying the same or how to change your life will impact you, you’re likely to discover what you thought was scary, is really going to be worth it in the end.

The more often you change behaviors and routines, the more readily you jump at change. Start small and learn how you approach and accept changes in your life. Here are 8 small lifestyle changes to consider!